CME-Related Organizations

Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
515 N. State Street, Suite 2150
Chicago, IL 60610-4377
Phone 312-755-7401
Fax 312-755-7496
www.accme.org

American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway
Leawood, KS 66211-2672: www.aafp.org/cme/accreditation 
E-mail: cmeaccredit@aafp.org

Nancy Davis, PhD, Director, Division of CME
Tel: 913-906-6000, Ext. 6510 
Toll free: 800-274-2237
ndavis@aafp.org

Alliance for Continuing Medical Education 
1025 Montgomery Highway - Suite 105
Birmingham, Alabama 35216
www.acme-assn.org 
E-mail: acme@acme-assn.org

Harry A. Gallis, MD, President
E-mail: harry.gallis@carolinashealthcare.org

Bruce J. Bellande, PhD, FACME, Executive Director

Bernie Halbur, Director of Professional Development

Marissa Green, Administrative Assistant
Tel: 205-824-1355
Fax: 205-824-1357

American Medical Association (AMA)

Division of Continuing Physician Professional Development (CPPD)
515 North State Street
Chicago, IL 60610
www.ama-assn.org
E-mail: cme@ama-assn.org

Alejandro Aparicio, MD, FACP, Director, Division of Continuing Physician Professional Development

Sue Ann Capizzi, MBA, Assistant Director/Director of CME Strategic Business Development

Charles E. Willis, MBA, Administrative Director, Division of Continuing Physician Professional Development

Rebecca DeVivo, MPH, MSW, Director of Accreditation and Certification Activities

AMA Physicians Recognition Award program
Charles Willis, MBA
Tel: 312-464-4677
Fax: (312) 464-4567
E-mail: charles_willis@ama-assn.org

To obtain a PRA booklet, application, or other information:
www.ama-assn.org/go/pra
e-mail: pra@ama-assn.org
Tel: 312-464-4672

For general questions, or a subscription to the CPPD Report:
Rabia Akram, MPH, MBA, Program Administrator
Tel: 312-464-4668

Colorado Medical Society (CMS)
7351 Lowry Boulevard
Denver, CO 80230-6902
P.O. Box 17550
Denver, CO 80217
www.cms.org 

Alfred Gilchrist, MPH, Executive Director

Chet Seward, Health Care Policy Director

Anne Wilson, Program Manager for CME
Phone: 720-858-6309
Fax: 720-859-7509
Email: anne_wilson@cms.org 

Toll free: 800-654-5653
Tel: 720-859-1001 X 6309

Denver Osteopathic Foundation (DOF)
An American Osteopathic Association-CME accredited sponsor
3131 S. Vaughn Way, Suite 204
Aurora, CO 80014
www.dofound.org 
Email: dofound@aol.com 

Phyllis A. Ring, MBA, Executive Director
Tel: 303-338-8541

Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation (CSOF)
15 W. Cimarron
Colorado Springs CO 80903

Doris L. Ralston, MPA
Director, CME & Public Relations 
dralston_csof@yahoo.com 
Tel: 719-635-9057 x313
Fax: 719-635-4727

State and Regional Organizations (SRO) Committee

By Gina Brooks

CACME has been around Colorado in one form or another since 1975. A few other states (and at least one region) have evolved over the years to bring professional development to the CME grass roots. Notable among them, in addition to Colorado, are Illinois, Texas, and Oregon and Washington as a region. In the past few years, the national Alliance for CME has recognized the importance of these state organizations in accomplishing, at the local level, what the Alliance seeks to do nationally. They have started calling these state CME organizations “state and regional organizations” or “SROs”.

Currently there are hundreds of SRO members in more than a dozen SROs in the United States and Canada. While their sizes, organizations and missions vary, all SROs engage in activities intended to improve the understanding, skills, and effectiveness of their CME constituents through education, networking and representation. Because many SRO members cannot participate in national associations and conferences, these local “alliances” provide an opportunity to learn about issues and participate in initiatives affecting the larger CME community. They are represented by the SRO Subcommittee of the ACME Membership Committee. Their steady growth and useful services demonstrate their value to the CME enterprise.

At the 2004 Alliance meeting in Atlanta, I had the opportunity as an invited participant to attend the State and Regional Organizations Committee meeting and to participate in a panel presentation at the conference regarding how our state and regional organizations maintain and enhance the competence of CME professionals.

SRO’s maintain and enhance professional competence by:

1. informing, educating and mentoring the local CME community;
2. supporting state medical society CME initiatives;
3. facilitating networking;
4. acknowledging outstanding accomplishments;
5. promoting opportunities for career advancement;
6. addressing CME issues of local interest, including identifying educational activities and formats which meet the learning needs and styles of local physicians;
7. fostering development of collaborative educational and research projects;
8. encouraging member participation and leadership;
9. representing state and regional interests nationally;
10. actualizing national priorities locally.

In reviewing this list, I think you’ll agree that CACME is providing many of these services to our members. During the panel presentation, I focused on how CACME facilitates networking, encourages member participation and leadership, and how we represent state and regional interests nationally.

However, there are certainly opportunities for improvement. In the future, CACME may work more closely with other SROs to strengthen the benefits we offer, to increase communication and to exchange resources. There is a potential for SROs to become more prominent in the Alliance and to have a stronger collective voice on issues. There may be a central website developed for SROs to be listed, in addition to the individual web sites that some of the SROs have already developed.

CACME is one of the SROs with a developed website. Here are links to other SRO websites, if you’re interested in viewing them:

• Texas Alliance for CME – www.tacme.org
• Illinois Alliance for CME – www.iacmeonline.org
• Canadian Association for Continuing Health Education (CACHE) – see this link from the Alliance web site.

I encourage you to support our SRO and to communicate with the Executive Committee about your ideas for how we can continue to maintain and enhance the professional competence of our members.